10 Horror Movie Casting Choices That Should've Worked (But Didn't)
1. Jackie Earle Haley - A Nightmare On Elm Street
Horror loves a remake, but there are few franchises more difficult to tackle than A Nightmare On Elm Street. That comes down to one thing: the Freddy Krueger factor. Robert Englund’s winking, nodding performance as the dream-stalking monster carried any number of duff films; that’s a big red and green jumper to fill.
Jackie Earle Haley was, in theory, a fantastic choice. His stock had never been higher off the back of Little Children and, especially, Watchmen, wherein he stole the show as Rorschach, a character few performers could have brought to life.
He seemed a great fit for the razor-fingered murderer, perhaps taking the film in a more serious direction. But Haley was unable to escape the shadow of his predecessor, and ultimately the less quip-heavy Krueger only helped to sink a film that was doomed from the start.
What’s more, the CGI-enhanced Freddy just looks off. The aim was to make him look more like a burn victim, and that succeeded, but Krueger is supposed to be a boogeyman, a creature of nightmares. Binding him to reality inevitably reduced the fun Haley could have in the role, or that we could have watching the movie.